Indian jails are transforming lives of inmates

Bangalore, July 24: Gone are the days when jails were presumed to be dingy, crammed and dirty remand cells for hard-core criminals. While brawls and criminal offences are still common in most of them, chances are so that even these people are reformed.

The latest Uttarakhand tragedy was a case in point, when Tihar jail (considered the most stringent jails in India) inmates joined hands to donate 3 lakh rupees to the victims.

In fact, they have landed up with jobs in some of the best and the biggest companies in the country now. Yes...this might sound utopic, but its absolutely true.

In a placement drive started by the Tihar jail, 30 inmates have pocketed good jobs with decent salaries.

This has been a great news for people like Raju (name changed) who was worried as to how would he serve his family of four after being released. A trained lawyer and a postgraduate, his prayers were answered as he bagged a job with a law firm as a legal advisor. Now, he would be earning a decent 2.4 lakhs per annum.

Among the recruits were convicts jailed for forgery, corruption, murder, assult and the like. Based on their previous experience and good conduct in jails, these people were hired by 16 private companies who were part of the selection process initiated by the Tihar jail.

Till now, the prison's placement cell has fetched jobs for 372 people. Authorities opine that these jobs will help them in rehabilitation.

In a similar move at the Chamarajnagar prison in Karnataka, the authorities had encouraged women inmates for cultivation of fresh vegetables and gardening. It has recently expanded to bakery products, garments and ready-to-eat food products and agarbattis.

These products are being sold in the market at good prices and have been appreciated for their quality. The prison department, in fact, is planning to produce five fragrances under one brand-Parivarthana (which means transformation)Prerna, Dhanya and Pooja.

Undertrials are being trained for the manufacturing process and the raw materials have been imported from Dubai as these natural essence are not available in Bangalore.